ABS
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Everglades Re upgraded
S&P has raised its issue credit rating on Everglades Re Series 2014-1 notes to single-B plus from single-B. The rating action follows the agency's review of the reset report for the final risk period that began on 1 June, the probability of attachment and the expiration of the variable reset feature.
The ILS transaction includes a variable reset feature that .......
News Round-up 2 June 2016
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Euro secondary stays positive
The European securitisation secondary market is retaining its positive tone and momentum.
Despite the UK and US public holidays and month-end, activity has improved on the previous week throughout this. The last few days have seen trading across the board and spreads in the vast majority of sectors continue to grind tighter.
In ABS/MBS prime assets were the main focus yesterday .......
SCIWire 2 June 2016
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Fair value?
Call for standardised approach to MPL valuations
In a sector where there is no standardised pricing methodology or standardised pricing reference data, a wide variety of approaches are currently being used to value marketplace loans (MPL) and peer-to-peer (P2P) loans. Not all of these approaches are deemed appropriate for the assets, however, and their continued use could have significant repercussions for the securitised MPL market.
The burgeoning .......
News Analysis 31 May 2016
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Ex-SEC counsel joins law firm
BakerHostetler has added Walter Van Dorn to its New York office as a partner. He was most recently at Dentons and has also worked at Thacher Proffitt & Wood, Clifford Chance and the US SEC. Van Dorn has worked in London, Hong Kong and Washington and focuses his practice on corporate securities law, including ABS.
....... Job Swaps 31 May 2016
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'Wrong' Madden verdict 'should stand'
The US solicitor general says that the controversial decision in Madden v Midland Funding (SCI passim) was incorrect and "reflects an unduly crabbed conception of [National Bank Act] pre-emption". However, the solicitor general does not believe that the decision should be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
A Mayer Brown client memo notes that the solicitor general "concluded that this just .......
News 27 May 2016
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Media financing firm secures funds
Crayhill Capital Management has agreed to finance a new firm called Versa Media, which has been set up to provide production loan financing to independent film and television creators. The new firm has secured a US$100m financing facility from Crayhill and will generate future means of financing through structured finance.
In addition to traditional subordinated production loans - including mezzanine, .......
Job Swaps 27 May 2016
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Aquila broadens investor access
Aquila Capital is providing institutional investors with access to its latest renewable energy portfolio - Aquila Capital Renewables Fund III - via securitisation. According to the asset manager, the securitisation has been given an indicative investment grade rating by an ESMA-recognised rating agency, with the target of a final single-A minus rating.
Combined, the securitisation and a direct investment in the fund .......
News Round-up 27 May 2016
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Diversified income beefs up
The PIMCO Diversified Income portfolio management team has been bolstered with the addition of Dan Ivascyn (PIMCO's group cio and portfolio manager) and Alfred Murata (md and portfolio manager). They join Curtis Mewbourne (md and portfolio manager) and Eve Tournier (evp and head of pan-European credit portfolio management) as co-managers on the strategy. Mewbourne will retire from PIMCO at end-September .......
Job Swaps 27 May 2016
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Euro secondary strengthens
The European securitisation secondary market is continuing to strengthen.
"Market tone continues to be strong in our market thanks in part to the current positive wider credit environment," says one trader. "However, it remains difficult to source paper as everybody is holding on to what they have."
The trader continues: "Flows are still thin, while primary and secondary supply is falling .......
SCIWire 26 May 2016
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Euro secondary picking up
European ABS activity is picking up as market sentiment improves.
"Right now activity is actually pretty decent. The last couple of days have seen a few bid-lists as dealers have become more aggressive in looking at paper," says one trader.
The trader notes that market participants appear to be becoming more relaxed about the UK's upcoming EU referendum. This is .......
SCIWire 25 May 2016
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Pricing exec recruited
Markit has appointed Frank Dos Santos as head of North America business strategy for its fixed income pricing services. With nearly 30 years of fixed income experience, he joins the firm after 13 years at S&P, most recently as global head of oversight, methodologies and analytical excellence for securities evaluations.
Markit's fixed income pricing service provides independent pricing, transparency and .......
Job Swaps 25 May 2016
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Indian market resurgent
Indian rated securitisation issuance volume has grown by 45% in the 2016 fiscal year to around R25,000, according to ICRA Research Services. This reverses a three-year trend in which the market had been slowly trending downward.
ICRA says that the figures reflect the increased number and volumes of ABS deals, which rose by 39% and 51% respectively in the year. .......
News Round-up 24 May 2016
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Dutch ABS, RMBS notes upgraded
Moody's has upgraded its ratings on two RMBS and two ABS transactions backed by loans originated by the now-bankrupt Dutch DSB Bank. The affected transactions are Monastery 2004-I, Monastery 2006-I, Chapel 2003-I and Chapel 2007.
The upgrades have been prompted by a pay-out from the DSB Bank bankruptcy estate to the issuers representing a 100% recovery on the SPV counterclaims .......
News Round-up 24 May 2016
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Academics urge CMU rethink
A group of academics have signed off on a letter to the European Parliament that asks MEPs to consider the ramifications of reviving the securitisation market by passing the bill for a Capital Markets Union (CMU). The letter was sent prior to a meeting in Brussels today by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs to discusses proposals for securitisation regulations.
The letter outlines .......
News Round-up 24 May 2016
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Subprime auto loans lengthening
Recently rated US subprime retail auto ABS deals have been seeing an increasing amount of longer-term loans in their pools, according to S&P. The agency says that the great number of these loans is leading to more back-loaded losses and longer loss curves.
The S&P Global Ratings subprime index shows a 76% rise in the percentage of loans with original .......
News Round-up 24 May 2016
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Euro secondary patchy
Activity in the European securitisation secondary market remains very patchy.
Despite a positive end to last week that saw spreads tick in and a continuing strong tone in to this, ABS/MBS continues to see highly selective trading. While there is little BWIC activity, what flows there are have so far this week been focused on prime assets.
Similarly, tone remain .......
SCIWire 24 May 2016
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Insurance risk specialist hired
Miller has recruited Benjamin Gibbons in a business production and senior broking role, where he will develop its credit and political risks offering. Gibbons specialises in structuring credit risk insurance policies for banks in line with Basel 3 capital adequacy standards.
He was previously leader of a financial institutions team within the political risks and structured credit practice at Marsh. .......
Job Swaps 23 May 2016
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Pandemic ILS prepped
The World Bank Group has launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF), a global financing mechanism using ILS that is designed to protect against pandemics. It is hoped that the initiative will create the first-ever insurance market for pandemic risk.
The new facility aims to accelerate both global and national responses to future outbreaks with pandemic potential. It was built .......
News Round-up 23 May 2016
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Transparency drive
Robert Vincini, head of pricing service specialists at Thomson Reuters, answers SCI's questions
Q: How and when did your firm become involved in the pricing and valuations business? How has your service evolved in recent years?
Provider Profile 23 May 2016
A: We started in 1991 as EJV Partners (Electronic Joint Venture). Reuters purchased certain assets of Bridge - including bond pricing and reference data - in 2001, forming Reuters Pricing Service. After the merger of Thomson Corporation and Reuters .......
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MBIA-wrapped bonds downgraded
Moody's has downgraded 162 classes of structured finance securities wrapped by MBIA Insurance Corporation. The action follows the downgrade of the insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings of MBIA Insurance Corporation to Caa1 from B3, with a negative outlook.
The downgrade of MBIA Corp's IFS rating reflects the insurer's weak liquidity and capital position, and increasing risk of default on insurance .......
News Round-up 23 May 2016
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Solvency 2 to boost ILS?
The size of the collateralised protection market is expected to increase from US$70bn to US$160bn by 2020, according to a new Clear Path Analysis report. Its latest Insurance-Linked Securities for Institutional Investors report predicts that new solvency regulation in Europe will increase insurer appetite for insurance-linked securities and collateralised reinsurance, so as to minimise credit risk charges.
Capital markets now .......
News Round-up 20 May 2016